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Henn, Yankees struggle in loss to Mets

Henn, Yankees struggle in loss to Mets

By Mark Feinsand
/
MLB.com |

NEW YORK -- The Yankees have been plagued by inconsistent play this season, winning a bunch of games in a row before hitting the skids for a week or two.

After opening their 13-game homestand with six consecutive victories, the Bombers have entered that second phase this week, dropping five of their last six. The latest defeat came on Saturday, as the Mets handed the Yanks a 10-3 loss at Yankee Stadium.

"We don't feel very good about ourselves right now," said manager Joe Torre. "That goes from the first player to the 25th player and the staff."

"I feel embarrassed," said Jorge Posada. "We take a lot of pride in what we do, and it's not working out. Something has to happen and we have to turn it around."

Rookie left-hander Sean Henn (0-3) was hit hard for the third time in his three big league starts, serving up six runs on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings, including three home runs -- two by Cliff Floyd.

"We had a kid on the mound who probably isn't ready to be in the big leagues," Torre said. "He has good stuff and he's going to be a big league pitcher, but he's not quite there yet."

Just as they did on Friday night, the Yankees also fell victim to some subpar play in the field, as Bernie Williams and Ruben Sierra had trouble covering the ground in center and left field, respectively.

Williams had a runner tag from first to second on a routine fly ball to center in the first, then broke late on a shallow fly by Chris Woodward, turning a probable out into a double. Then, in the seventh, Ramon Castro's base hit scooted by Williams, giving the catcher an extra base.

The win assured the Mets of their first series win in eight tries at Yankee Stadium, and just their fourth series victory overall in the 16 meetings between the clubs since Interleague Play began in 1997.

"We're not playing the way we should," Williams said. "Hopefully it will get better."

"I'm not picking and choosing who is at fault," Torre said. "It's a team effort. We all need to do a better job."

Henn, who walked seven batters in his last start against the Devil Rays, picked up where he left off, walking Mike Cameron with one out in the first. Floyd made him pay for the free pass, drilling a two-run shot to right field to give the Mets a quick 2-0 lead.

David Wright laced a solo shot to start the second, boosting the lead to 3-0. The Yankees cut into that lead in the bottom of the frame, using a two-run double by Robinson Cano (who later added a solo home run in the ninth) to make it a one-run game.

That's as close as it would get for the home team.

The Mets tacked on three runs against Henn in the fifth, driving him from the game after 4 1/3 innings. The big shot in the inning came from Floyd, who crushed the first pitch he saw from Henn into the right-field seats for a two-run shot, his second of the day and 20th of the season.

"He threw a couple of pitches that stayed in the zone," said Posada, "and they were hit hard."

"There's definitely more to work on, but I know I can pitch here," Henn said. "Is it too early? Maybe."

Tom Glavine (5-7) worked his way out of several jams throughout the day, putting two runners on in both the third and fourth innings without surrendering a run in either frame. The Yankees were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, squandering the few opportunities they had.

"It's been a tough job to just get a rally started. That's frustrating," Torre said. "We don't feel good about ourselves, and that has to come first. The results aren't going to come unless we have a good frame of mind, and it's tough to get it. We have to earn it, to get it back, and that takes work."

By the fifth, Glavine was working with a four-run lead, and the southpaw settled in, retiring seven of eight from the fourth through the sixth.

Not that his teammates stopped scoring, as the Mets plated a run in the sixth against Scott Proctor and another three in the seventh against Mike Stanton and Paul Quantrill, boosting the lead to 10-2.

Torre refused to question the effort of his players, dismissing the idea that the Yankees were going through the motions. That said, the fact that the team is mired in another slump has to raise some eyebrows.

"The fact that we're doing the best we can and it's as bad as it's been, that's tough," Torre said. "As a manager, you can only ask your players to do the best they can. Right now, the best we can isn't good enough."

"It's not like we go out there and we don't care, things just aren't coming out the right way," Posada said. "It's not about changes; it's about the way we have to play. We have the talent in here; we just have to change it around.

"It's on us," the catcher added. "We have to do it."

Mark Feinsand is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.